Weekend regression

Not a great weekend on the course. PLayed as usual on saturday and sunday. But played really bad. So bad I don't really feel like talking about it. saturday was miserable. I shot an 86, just didn't have anything. Lots of double boogies, and lots of missed putts. Sunday, I played a little better but still a bad round. Shot 83. Shot 44 on the front, and 39 on the back. Really, I feel I should have been 80 or 79 cause I started off well on the back determined to keep my score 80 or lower. But a few missed putts and some miscalculated risks caused me to have 4 boogies and 1 birdie. Atleast I didn't play my langly match on sunday. although if I did, I would have showed up with a much different mentality. Next monday will be the day I play andy for my chance to be in the finals. Hopefully after 2 rounds sat and sun I'll be ready to go. Might try to get out to one of the tougher club link courses with my buddy preston just as a warm up. I always seem to play a little better after that.

Health Update

After visiting the Doc on wednesday I found out that I am indeed lucky to by alive still. Well, obviously it's not that bad, probably more lucky not to be 250 pounds.

After showing my dr the diet diary she didn't condem me or anything. In fact she pointed out the 2 decent meals I had. Didn't really say much about the other ones, except for Happy Jacks, she never heard of it so i filled her in. Here's what tips she gave me. First of all I need to eat more green vegetables, with almost none on the sheet, I'm not getting enough. She also mentioned something I kind of knew. All the food I have been eating doesn't have any substance to it. I feel hungry all day long no matter what I would eat and that makes a lot of sense. When you are eating the crap I eat all day there is nothing to it so you actually get no nutrition or substance. So i have to change those things, but thats why I went to see her.

So i started hard right out of the gates yesterday. For breakfast she suggested I start making a smoothie every morning. The recipie she gave me is as follows. 1 orange, 1 bannana, 1 pear, 1 handful of berries, and 1 handful of spinach. Wasn't to sure about the spinach but she warned me it would chop up so fine in the blender that I wouldn't even taste it. So i shoved all that stuff in the blender yesterday morning and low and behold it was great. Couldn't taste the spinach either. The best thing about it, for the first time in a long time I wasn't hungry all morning. It really filled me up. Plus, it tasted great, no problem making that in the morning, very easy and quick. For lunch I stopped by the golf club and had a chicken ceasar salad. More greens and chicken. Much better then some shit cub or fast food. Just a side note, I hate fast food. I only eat it cause it's the only thing around my office and laziness, but thats all changing. For dinner I kept the train rolling and made a meal rather then takeout. Using brown rice pasta I made Pasta with shrimp and spinach. Phenominal meal. Never made it before and it still turned out amazing. I did have a few pieces of small garlic bread. However I had more greens, healthy pasta, and shrimp (fresh raw shrimp), very tasty, definitly will get made again sometime. Then i rewarded myself with a huge piece of Lemon mirange pie. No justification for this other then I really like it, so i ate, what are you gonna do about it?

So off to a good start. Had the smoothie again today, not sure about the rest of the days food, but hopefully we can keep this train rolling. Right now, out of 5 with that being the worst, I am a 4 on the body toxity scale. With some minor changes i should be able to get that to a better number. 8 weeks till my next apointment, i'll probably fill you in again then.

A new outlook

Recently I have decided to take a new outlook (sort of) on life. More or less, I just want to live a little healthier then I currently do. I have recently got my fist phyisical, got my back problems looked after, visited a dr about my feet, and started seeing a Naturalpath (sp?). My sister has been seeing one for many years now and swears by it, so I thought I would try it. That, and I wanted to learn how to eat better. This is what brought about this post. I was asked last week at my first visit to keep a diet diary for a week and return it tonight to her. The only instructions she gave me were don't try and impress her, just eat normal and we would talk about it tonight. No problem, I can do that. Then last night I was talking to my sister and told her a little about what I've been eating. Her response was "she is going to tell you suck, so you might aswell go out wiht a bang." So here it is, a look into the specimen that is Harris.

Day 1 - Wednesday
Breakfast - I had my usual, Tim Hortons Coffee, 1 milk. Atleast i have some milk in there.

Lunch - Chicken Ceasar Pita, started off sort of healthy. But then I added poutine to it and found myself dipping the pita in the gravy. Wow was that good.

Dinner - pasta and meat sauce. That can't be that bad for you, can it?

Day 2 - Thursday
Breakfast - What should I have for breakfast this morning? Coffee, 1 milk.

Lunch - pasta and meat sauce. I had this recently, can't remember when?

Dinner - pizza. I love pizza, very nice treat once and a while.

Day 3 - Friday
Breakfast - Felling a little hungry today, I had 2 eggos.......and a coffee, 1 milk.

Lunch - Tuna sub. There was some vegetables in there, so it had to be healthy.

Dinner - Chicken Fajitas. Ok this one actually was a healthy meal. I had organic chicken, tomatoes, peppers, plus there was lots of vegetables.

Evening snack - cherries. I guess you are supposed to eat and mid morning and evening snack, this is all new to me. This was proably the healthiest 4 or 5 hours in my year.

Day 4 - Saturday
Breakfast - I had a late tee time today, so I made breakfast. Eggs and Toast, but i had 4 eggs. and of course, Coffee, 1 milk. I worried she is going to say no coffee, i will tell her I want my money back.

Lunch - Roastbeef sandwich. Can't be anything wrong with that.

Dinner - Chinese Food. O.k., this was Happy Jacks, the best chinese food on the planet, can't be blamed for that one. I probably ate enough for 2 or 3 meals, but it's Happy Jacks.

Evening Snack - I moderatly large piece of Apple Cheesecake. My dad got me about 1/2 a cake of this, from Happy Jacks, and it was probably the best cake I have ever had in my life. I actally had 2 pieces, but there was only room on the sheet to write one down. I think I'll keep that from her.

Day 5 - Sunday
Breakfast - back to the usual, Coffee, 1 milk.

Lunch - Went out after golf with my buddy preston to this really good place here in town. I had 2 pieces of french toast, the brad used for that was this cinnamon raison bread (best french toast I have ever had). 2 eggs, 2 pieces of toast. Potatoes, and some fruit. Oh ya, and a coffee. Wow, this was another classic meal, maybe best breafkast/lunch ever.

Dinner - It's been a while so, Pizza and Chicken Wings. But they were from a different place then the last time, so it doesn't count as the same thing.

Evening Snack - Apple Cheesecake, see above.

Day 6 - Monday
Breakfast - Coffee, and a bacon and egg sandwich on a bagel from Tims. I'm not a huge fan of these things, but it does provide some satisfaction.

Lunch - pizza. Leftovers, what am I supposed to do, just throw em out?

Dinner - Ceasar Salad, Lobster sandwich and french fries. O.k., let me explain this one. Here in town there is a place called the Blue Mermaid. In the loung downstairs they make the best sandwich known to man. It's basically a grilled cheese sandwich with like a whole lobster inside. You can't believe how amazing this is untill you eat it. The fried are also the best on the planet. Perfectly crispy, but not burnt, just can't pass it up. But atleast I had a salad. Oh, and I had another piece of cheese cake for dessert. mmmmmmmm, cheese cake.

Day 7 - Tuesday, going out with a bang.
Breakfast - Coffee, bacon and egg sandwich on a bagel. Kind of sad. I actually just wrote down bagel cause I was little embarresed at this point.

Lunch - steak and cheese sub.

Dinner - I talked to my sister just before I had dinner and couldn't figure what to do so I went easy. Made pasta and meat sauce. But i did use brown rice pasta and organic pasta sauce. added my own ground beef. Made some garlic bread too. Not a bad meal with a glass of red wine.

Evening snack - things got a little dicey here. I did have fruit, pineapple to be exact. Healthy, no? It was just the massive scoup of vannila fruit dip i took with each tiny piece of pineapple. That stuff is really good if you haven't had it before. Then I had some cookies. But they were oatmeal and rasin cookies. 2 healthy ingredients if you ask me. I had 2 cookies. But then I had a brilliant idea. What if I take the oatmeal raisin cookies and dip them in the fruit dip? Oh that sounds really good, better try it. 2 more cookies and a few more massive scoups of fruit dip and I'm in heaven and a fat piece of shit.

Needless to say I'm going to take her this diary tonight, and she is going to tell me, in my sisters words, you suck. What can I say? I eat all this stuff, don't get fat, and I love every bit of it. Not sure how well I'm going to be able to follow the diet I am expecting from her. I like food to much, especially the crap that is bad for you. I guess we'll see. Check in tomorrow for a short recap of what she says.

Weekend Golf

Nothing exciting here today. Played golf all weekend again. Just trying to get in as many rounds as possible before football starts. Usually the weather isn't that great in September, and I have a serious addiction to Football, so it makes golf on sundays difficult for me. However, since I'm playing so well right now, and still have some Langly matches to play, i might actually play a few sunday morning rounds this year.

Anyways.

Saturday I decided to head up to Ancaster to play golf with my buddy Preston at his course, Heron Point. Always a nice track, part of the clublink franchise, and playing with Preston is always fun. The course was in great shape except I just happened to pick the week they punched the greens. Just a small punch, but the greens were covered in sand. It seemed like they top-dressed the greens, but never cleared it, kind of bullshit is you ask me. So everything hit the green and splashed sand and then stopped, and the putting was very slow. I didn't play well under these conditions. Along with the super slow play, which isn't normal for that place, it wasn't exactly the best day. I shot a horrible 86, 15 over par, and didn't even really play that bad. The problem was the putting. I can't putt that well on slow greens cause you have to be so aggressive to get the ball to the hole, which leads me to ge the putter off line. I was hitting the driver pretty good, and my chipping and wedges were good, i just couldn't hit those 4 or 5 footers. I actually hit 4 pins while chipping and rimmed out 2 other ones and still couldn't score. Oh well, no big deal, still a good day.

Sunday I barely made it to the tee in time and played at St. Catharines with Gary, Cal, and new guy Dave (a.k.a. Biker). I showed up just as the third guy was hitting so I really cut it close. First drive went far right just up to the out of bounds line. I warmed up a little ther just before me second shot, hit a noice lay up shot to the 100 yard marker, made par, and I was off. Didn't exactly play well on the front 9, but didn't play poorly either. I was still adapting to quicker greens (100 times better then Heron, and very nice for st. kitts) so i had a little trouble with my speed. It wasn't untill the 18th (#9 for us) that I got everything in check. I hit a nice drive to about 120 and a 52 degree wedge to about 10 feet, then drained the putt for birdie, to shot a 41. Not a great score, but managable. From there on I played the next 9 holes 1 over, but boogied the 9th (18th for us) for a 38 and shot 79. I'm still happy with that cause I broke 80. That my only goal right now and everytime i do it, i had a good round. Breaking 80 is like every golfers dream, and only something like 10 or 5 percent of golfers do it, so that means I'm good. lol.

I'm still playing the best golf I ever have. My handicapp is at a 4 and for the first time ever my index is a 3.9. Super happy about that. Kind of funny, Cal was putting his score in yesterday hoping for it to go up. Crazy. I hate my handicapp going up, just makes no sense, means you are regressing. But to each his own. I have my semifinal Langly Match this sunday against Andy A, a guy who plays with us most weekends. He's a pretty solid golfer and as of right now, I am going to be giving him a stroke. No big deal. If I can play just like I have been the past few weeks I can beat him no problem. I'm very confident in my match playing skills and my golf game. I won't take him lightly or anything like that, but I will be disappointed with a lose. On the brightside, if I do loose, atleast I made it to the Semi's and beat the #1 ranked guy. Definitly something to build on in the future.

Big Match

I played my quarterfinal Langly cup match on sunday against Mike Kray, the 4 time club champion. I played Mike 2 years ago in the langly cup and took it to the 18th hole but lost. I was definitly looking to redeem myself this time around. Here's the breakdown in true Matty B fashion.

We started on the back nine.

#10 - The trash talking got going early on this one. Just before I tee off I let mike know that he doesn't have to chase me all day, meaning I'm going to bomb my drive past him all day. So i get set and hit my first drive......15 yards off the tee. Laughter erupts, including myself. MIke proceeds hit it up the fairway on the left side. I hit a nice rescue to about 190, and 5 iron to the green. Mike is in the left side bunker in 2, out in 3, and 2 putts for par. I 2 putt, and with a stroke I take the hole, Harris 1 Up.

#11 - I hit a 5 iron to be safe, but end up hitting the large tree just right of the fairway, leave myself with 180 yards and no shot to the green due to the tree. So i hit a 5 iron low and up behind the small trees to the left front of the green. Mike is on the green in 2. I have no shot again, having to go under the trees. So i use my 7 iron and kind of (on purpose) skull is along the ground. Bounce, bounce, bounce, I have a 6 foot par putt. Mike 2 putts, I drain mine, Harris still 1 Up.

#12 - I use a 5 iron to attack the middle pin with no wind. I nail a perfect shot to about 10 feet pin high, just right of the pin. Mike hits his left, and lands on the fringe about 20 feet away. He barely misses the birdie putt, but I roll mine right in. Off to a great start, and I'm 2 Up. Keep your cool Harris.

#13 - I bomb a drive but it's tailing right, towards the woods. Luckly it gets down and I'm about 150 out to the back bin. Mike was already on in 2, but at the back of the green. I hit a nice 8 iron, but it comes up way short and I'm in the front of the green, about 80 feet away. I hit a great lag putt that comes up about 6 inches short, par, bet birdie. Mike barely misses his putt and I take a 3 Up lead. Steady!!!

#14 - Mike and I both hit the green with very long birdie putts. Neither of us make the putt, but we both tied, Still 3 Up

#15. I hit a bad drive left and on the the #6 fairway. Mike is right up the middle. I try to hit an easy 4 iron as a lay-up, but I hit it poorly and I went in the water to the left of the fairway. Couldn't recover and made a boogie while mike made the routine par to bring the match to 2 Up. Just a side note, Mike ALWAYS makes par. Crazy how good this guy is.

#16 - Both of us are down the hill hitting our 3rd shots. Mike goes first and leave it about 12 feet for birdie. I make a nice shot to about 8 feet. Of course, Mike drains the long birdie putt no problem. I give the ball no chance of being short, and run it over the edge. Oh well, can't really complain about loosing to a birdie. Harris 1 Up

#17 - Nothing special here. Mike is on but only about a foot infront of me as I come up just short of the green. I make a great chip to about 6 inches for the gimmie. Mike 2 putts for par. Harris 1 up.

#18 - I watch Mike hit first. It's sailing right over the trees and towards the highway (In my head, YESSSSS). I step up and bomb my drive, but it's right along the tree line to the left. I yell, cut, cut, cut, but it doesn't, and it stop just infront of the large willow, leaving me no backswing. No problem, Mike is out of bounds. Then I get to my ball and there is a problem, mike is in the trap, not out of bounds. I choke up a little on a 7 iron so that my backswing doesn't hit the tree and i put the ball in the back of my stance. I chop at it and manage to get it up and just short and right of the green. Mike is actually chipping from the same distance, but in the fairway. I make a beautiful chip to about 5 feet. Mike drains his par putt first. I then step up and drain my right to lefter centre of the cup.

We head to the back 9. I shot a 36 on the front, Mike was 35, but I'm 1 Up and feeling it.

#1 - Mike strokes it perfectly down the middle. I hit 5 iron left and into the trap under the willow tree. I make great contact on the ball but pull it left and find my ball about halfway inbetween the #1 green and the 18th tee. Mike is just long of the green but it's a back pin so he's in o.k. shape. I have to go under a tree, over the small hill around the green, and then contend with a huge left o right break. By the way, my short game chipping around the greens was on fire this day. I make a great shot that lands perfectly in the rough slowing it down and rolls to about 8 feet. Unfortunatly, I miss the putt for par and make boogie. Goodthing Mike missed it aswell, Harris still 1 Up.

At this point I'm still feeling pretty good. No nerves, and the swing is working well. Putting out of my mind, and chipping is great, only problem I'm having is driving. Usually thats my best part, but today it just wasn't working. I hit 3 fairways all day.

This is where things starting getting interesting.

#2 - Mike is up the left side near the pine trees. I bomb a drive, but it's hard left and bounce off the hills around the 17th tee. After almost conceding the hole I begin to walk towards the green and spot my ball lying dead in the middle of the flower bed at the top of the tow rope near 17. Mike instructs me to measure my nearest point of relief. To the right would have been on the side of a hill with little to no shot. To the left was a small area where I would have a shot no problem. I measure the bad way first, 3.5 drivers, then go to the left, 3 drivers. I take my drop and hit a solid 8 iron, but it goes long of the green and the pin is in the very front. Side note, Mike had told me the pin was in the middle, no big deal. I walk up to ball and make another great chip to about 5 feet. Mike is already in for a par. I make the great save and I'm still 1 Up.

#3 - Mike and I both hit our ball left but no trouble. I hit first and come up just right on the fringe middle of the green. Mike goes long. Did i mention my chipping was on this day? I chip to about 1 foot. Mike blows his chip shot by the hole about 20 feet. Misses the par putt and taps in for boogie. This is where things really get interesting. I basically duff the putt and miss making boogie. Bo big deal I say to myself and try to wipe it out.

#4 - Mike come up just short on the par 3 and right of the green. I see the door wide open with an easy 5 iron in hand that I have been hitting well all day. Regardless, I hit it right and into the trees. I couldn't chip out of the woods and get it on the green, i make 4, mike makes 3, we are all even.

#5 - Things take a turn for the worst here. I get a stroke on this hole, and no one ever birdies this hole, so a par wins the hole I'm thinking to myself. Mike is dead down the middle, again. I bomb a drive out of anger, down the middle. I hit my 7 iron pretty good to the front right of the green, but it's a front left pin. Mike is on in 2 aswell. No problem 2 putt for par and the hole. Mike makes his par no problem. I hit my 70 footer lag putt to about 1 foot, sweet I win the hole. I go to tap mine in, didn't rush, actually looked at it and everything, and proceed to blast it past the hole. O.k. I'll just tap this one in and take the tie, no blood. I then go ahead and miss that one to. Mike finally gives me one and I actually 4 putt the hole to loose. This was very difficult to accept. I'm realing now on the verge of a full out Matty B tilt.

#6 - Mike hits a massive drive down the middle. But i follow with an equally huge drive middle of the fairway. He hits 3 wood from i'm guessing about 300 yards, comes up about 50 yards short. I hit my 2 iron rescue from the same spot, come up about 20 yards short. Mike's chip it o.k. but still a tough birdie putt. I hit mine a little firm and roll about 20 feet past the pin. I didn't hit the best putt, but i still left myself an easy 4 footer straight up hill. Mike has about 2 feet for par, so I need this one. The jitters start to creep in, and I've got the last hole on my mind and the other other easy putt missed on #3, not good thoughts. I miss the putt that I have been hitting all day and make boogie. To my astonishment, Mike misses the putt and makes boogie. But i get a stroke on the hole, so I win the hole. Very bitter sweet. All square going into the last 3 holes.

#7 - Back pin with a little cross wind. I hit a solid 5 iron to the back of the green, but had to ship to the back pin that was on the right side. Mike had a tough birdie putt, i wasn't o concerned he would make it, but Mike is a really good putter so I didn't doubt he could. I hit a great to chip to the dreaded spot of the last few holes of a foot. Mike makes par and of course makes me putt it. 'm shaking over this putt like never before. Some how I will it in and gain some confidence back. Still all square, 2 holes to play, exact same situation as the last time we played.

#8 - I couldn't believe it, but I'm geting a stroke on the easy par 5. Both Mike and I drive long but left. Our balls were probably 5 yards apart, Mikes being a little more right then mine had a shot at the green. A very tough 5 wood, but a shot nonetheless. I almost don't even have a shot at getting down the hill cause I'm directly behind a tree. I chop at it with a 5 iron to keep it low barely missing the tree in front of me. Literally less then an inch from hitting the tree, but it gets down the hill about 50 yards from the pin. I hit a beautiful 56 degree wedge to about 6 feet, great shot, needed that big time. Mike is right of the green behind the bunker. A very tough chip shot. He attempts to lob it over the trap and land it softly but over hits its and find himself with a birdie putt from the left front of the green about 30 feet. Did I mention I'm nervous as hell right now? He strokes a beauty of a putt and I'm watching it thinking I can't believe this is going in, but it stops about 2 inches short, I breath again. With a little less preasure knowing I can 2 putt from 6 feet to win the hole, I roll my birdie straight in and take the hole even if I didn't have the stroke. I feeling great but still nervous and thinking I don't want to have to make a 1 footer to win, sad actually.

#9 - Walking up the tow rope Cal tells me to go infront so he can play caddy. He tells me "Harris, step up to your fucking drive on 9 and swing the shit out of it. Blast it harder then you ever have and don't think about anything else." Good advice. I did just that, dead down the middle to the 150 yards marker. After that I talked a little shit to Kray, suggesting he block it left or right, no preference. He doesn't block it, but does go up the right side and gets in the tiny little bunker. I'm nervous now, a par wins this thing and I'm sitting pretty in the middle of the fairway. Walking up to Mikes ball we find his ball in the trap and a divot is resting up against his ball, of shit this gets better and better. But after looking at his, I walk over to my ball and find it dead in the middle of the fairway, and dead in the middle of a divot, NOOOOOOOO. WHY ME. Mike with little effort hits out of the sand just short of the green to a front pin, probably an easy up and down for him. I have no idea how to hit the divot shot. So i attempt something with my 9 iron and skull it. But it flys to the green almost, a couple of bounce and rolls up to about 4 feet. Mike hits his chip a little past the hole and misses the par putt, makes Boogie. This is in the bag. I missed the 4 footer but left it on the edge for a tap in and the HUGE win. 2 Up.

So i beat Mike. I feel like I won a tournament with this win it was so big. He is a phenominal golfer. I played really well for me and it still almost wasn't enough. I also discovered I get way to nervous when I'm in a situation to win and have to find some way to over come that. Regardless, a win is a win and I'm in the final 4 for the first time ever. My next match is against either Andy a guy from our group who is a 5 handicapp, or this other guy who is a 9. I don't want to have to play someone and give 5 strokes, so hopefully Andy beats that guy.

Plus my handicapp dropped to a 4 this weekend after rounds of 78, and 77. I'm playing better right now then I ever have. Hopefully I can keep it going and give a go at winning this Langly Cup.

Thanks for reading, if you made it this far.

First taste of the year

Finally today I officially kicked off the Fantasy Football season. Although for me the season never really ends since i research all year round, i still made my first official move today.

In my one league the Ancaster Fantasy Football Federation (awful name) you are required to keep 4 guys. Pretty tough thing to do if you aren't always thinking ahead. Last year I made a few great moves and set myself up with Joseph Addai, Laurence Maroney, Marques Colston, and Donovan Mcnabb. By any standards, this was a good group no matter what. Addai is ranked in the top 5 this year, Maroney top 10, Colston is a top 12 WR, and Mcnabb is arguably the 4th or 5th best QB in the league when healthy. However, I wasn't comfortable with Mcnabb. He's been banged up the last 2 years, is getting older which has taken away his mobility to some degree, and the Eagles have absolutly no WR's except for a guy named Reggie Brown who could be #1 WR but hasn't done anything mind blowing to warrent that.

So I sent out some feeler emails to see who was interested in trading me someone more attractive. I first tried to get Lavernous Coles from the Jets. Offered a low pick, 6th round, and got rejected. Not really looking hard enough at the guys team, i should have realized he was keeping him anyways. So i turned to plan B. I inquired about Lee Evans from the Bills. Not really thinking the guy would give him up i asked anyways, but never thought I would have anything to give him. Low and behold, I wake up today and a proposal has been sent through from the Evans owner. Lee Evans and Cotchery (Jets #2 WR) for my 3.06 draft pick. I like it, good value, but I'm still stuck with Mcnabb. I ask the guy just to give me a day or 2 to accept it and proceed to offer everyone in the league Mcnabb for various 3rd round picks. What do you know, someone took the bait and gave me a 3.14 draft pick for Mcnabb. I quickly run to the computer and accept the Evans deal. I made out like a bandit as far as I'm concerned. Basically swap 3.06 for 3.14 for Evans. Great deal making, exactly how it should be done. Now i have Addai, Maroney, Colston, and Evans. Solid, very very solid. I have a first round pick in this league for only the second time in 4 years, and only missing one other pick. Usually i sell all my picks cause I can out draft guys in the later rounds, so this year I will be a force. Can't wait.

More Fantasy news to come. I have drafts on Aug 29 and 31, and Sept 3rd and 4th. Check back then for the beginning of 5 straight months of nothing but Fantasy Football.

John Butler Trio Concert

Last thursday I took a trip to Buffalo with my cousin Jamie, and 2 friends Tim and Katie to see the John Butler Trio. One special thing about this concert was it was totally FREE. Every thursday night throughout the summer, buffalo city puts on a concert series called "Concert in the Square". It's basically this square (obviously) dead in the middle of the downtown core. There is maybe 1000 people standing around the stage with another 500 or so back behind everyone just hanging out and drinking beer. So there was maybe 35% of the people there knew who the band was. Most are just out for a night of music and drinking. Good times either way you look at it.

So Jamie and I get down to the square around 5:30 (show started at 5, went to 9). I had been to a show there about 2 years ago and it was quite busy. To gaurantee a good spot we thought we would just show up early, have a beer or to and talk fantasy football. Turned out to be a good move going early, even though there wasn't a lot of people there. Right in front of the stage about 50 yards back is this statue raised up about 6 stairs. We were able to plant ourselves right on the top stair for the most perfect view. Not only did we get to sit and relax for the hour and half we had to wait, but we also had no worries of seeing over people, and were close enough to see everything perfectly. What i mean by this, is Butler is probably the most talented Guitar player i have ever seen. It's a show in itself just watching him play. Just amazing at his craft.

John ended up coming on just before 7 and played a full 2 hour set. AMAZING. I was hoping for a hour, maybe an hour and half set, but it was a full freakin set. It was an amazing show. What was cool about the crowd was that almost no one knew who he was when it started. after the first few songs you could see a few people clapping and cheering. By the end of the concert the whole crowd was going nuts. It was great. Hopefully he saw the reaction and will make a stop in buffalo from now on when he tours through toronto.

Anyways, great show, great night capped off by Yanks pizza. Hopefully we get lucky next year and he plays the Square again.

Not my best performance

Sadly enough, I played awful this weekend and was a complete non-factor in the Club Championships. The buildup to this weekend was looking so promising this year. My last 10 rounds or so have been very good by comparison to the rest of the year. I had maybe 2 out of 10 rounds above 80 and seemed to have all facets of my game in check. None the less, the preasure of tournament play got to me again, i guess.

I went into saturday's round feeling pretty good. Playing with a familiar partner, Brian B, I figured I would be relaxed and in control of my game and post a decent score. After getting off to a miserable start, duffing my first shot of the day 15 yards off the tee deck, I knew I was in for it. I didn't get upset or discouraged, but something just didn't feel right and I couldn't fix it untill it was to late. I just had some nerves while I was standing over the ball. After parring the second hole I thought maybe I was back, but duffed another drive on the 3rd hole. This time loosing it in the creek, and eventually making a double boogie. Bad shot on 4th caused me to chip it way past the hole, followed by a 3 putt for another double. That was about it. The rest of the round went bad, and I shot a 84. Out of the tournament.

So i showed up sunday just happy to have a tee time aswell as playing with Cal and another friend Matt N. Thinking i could just post a good score as a respect thing, i failed myself again. Supe slow play, and i guess nerves again, caused me to play even worse then saturday. I shot a horrible 47 on the front, including a 3 putt from 2 feet on number 8 taking a 6 instead of birdie. Got to the back nine and played the first 7 holes 1 under par. Then boogied the 17th after blasting my 90 foot putt past the hole and missed the comeback. Then for only the second time this year, i hit my tee shot over the highway, luckly not breaking a club this time. Hit a bad approach shot for my 4th shot and ended up making a 7 on the hole. Shot a 86. I am very disapointed in myself.

It wasn't the missing the cut, or not winning the tournament, which I new I wouldn't win anyways. It was the fact that I seem to be a weekend golfer instead of a tournament player. I've been in 3 tournys this year and sucked in all of them. i don't want to be like that. I guess thats part of my problem. I put to much preasure on myself and blow it when it counts. Hopefully with another year of experience under my belt i will play better next year. Still sucks big time. Atleast I still have the Langly Cup to play for, even though my next match is against one of the best players in the club. Hopefully I play better that day then I did this weekend.

I can't believe I'm saying this

I shot a bad 79 last night. Thats right, i shot a score that over 90% of golfers would love to shoot and I was pissed. Earlier in the summer Matt and Cal used to come off the course and shot 78, 76, 79 and be pissed, and I would then get pissed cause they were like that kid in school who got a 95% on a test and went to the teacher to complain. I hated those kids. Now, i find myself in the same situation.

I went to the club just to practice my putting and chipping for a little while. Then Ryan, the ass pro, showed up and asked if I wanted to play. Getting around in rather the practicing was much more appealing so i saddled up and tried my luck on the course.

Started off great. Striking the ball almost perfectly throughout the front 9, i was able to hold it togeather with 2 birdies and 2 boogies for an even 36. Great score, very happy with it.

Tied off the 10th with a massive drive dead down the middle. Hit my second into the green but far left with w front right pin. No big deal, 2 putt birdie. Nope. I 3 wacked it for a par, given strokes away. Second hole i par, and then the wheels came off.

Took a double boogie on 12 after hitting up the hill behind the green for the first time ever. Boogied 13. Par 14. On 15 from the back tees of 590 i absolutly kill a drive leaving myself 230 to the green. Looking at an easy 2 iron rescue shot into the green, i manage to pull it right and find myself on the 4th tee box behind a tree. I got up over the tree, but still only made par, very discouraging. 16 i almost chip in for birdie, but settle for a par. 17 i come up short and miss the up down for boogie. 18 i bomb a drive up the left side only to find myself nestled under a pine tree. I take a drop and make a poor attempt at the green coming 20 yards short from 110 yards out. What a joke. I ended up making a double to shot 43 on the back for a total 79.

Awful. Just awful. Things started slowing up after the front nine. waiting on almost every shot. I guess that through me off a bit and i just lost concentration. To bad, cause I was playing so well i thought this was one of those days.

Atleast the swing was back after a bad weekend. Drove the ball very well. My short game was solid. But of course one thing has to be off, last night it was my wedge play which hasn't waivered at all this year. Just didn't have the touch from 100 to 125 out that I have had lately. This weekends Club Championships are going to be extremely tough. 75 - 75, might not even be good enough to make the cut. Hopefully I can play out of my mind one day or actually 2 days and make the cut. That would be a huge accomplishment for me with the way my game has been this year.

Big night tonight. There is a free John Butler Trio concert in buffalo, NY. I've seen this guy twice now and they were 2 of the best shows I've ever seen. Should be amazing, check in tomorrow for a review.